Symptoms, treatment and prevention of agitated depression. Mental disorders

Depressive disorders are usually a process caused by the defense mechanism of the psyche and designed to stop negative emotions of a person with total frustration - lack of interest in life, inertia, apathy. But there are forms of depression, the symptoms of which are radically different from the classical clinical picture. For example - agitated anxious depression is very different. And to know about this disease is for everyone who does not want to face such a pathology.

What is agitated depression?

With agitated depression, a person falls not only in anguish and indifference, but also permanently in a state of "agitation" - in other words, arousal. The main problem of this condition is that depression, accompanied by an active condition, can result in a human suicide.

Disease refers to the number of reactive, that is, a reaction to an external stimulus, and not an organic one. On the one hand, this greatly facilitates the process of therapy, on the other hand - it complicates the diagnosis.

How to recognize agitated depression?

In order to talk about agitated depression, first of all it is necessary to establish the fact of having the most depressive state, and only after differentiating its type.

Thus, the basis of the clinical picture is a feeling of depression, a low mood, the interpretation of all events happening in a negative way. At the same time, the increased nervousness of the nervous system supplements the human condition with such characteristics as anxiety, emotional lability, pathological motor activity, which accompanies many mental disorders. Symptoms in women usually flow brighter than in men. This is due to the gender peculiarities of the mental apparatus of man and the cultural aspect.

Who is located to the disease?

Talking about what can lead to agitated depression or depression in general is very difficult. The human psyche is a very complex mechanism in which both reactions to external events occur, as well as processes caused by changes in the hormonal background, the development of neurotransmitters.

But the agitated type of depression rarely has an organic defeat. The most common factor for the development of this disease is old age. According to statistics, people who retired, who have lost their professional authority and who have changed the rhythm of life, most often face with ailment.

That's why psychologists recommend close to attentively treat to the moment when the elderly member of the family leaves for retirement. At this time it is important to let the person know that his opinion is still important, and help is in demand. Otherwise, there is a serious risk of experiencing depression.

Symptoms

Agitated depression, the symptoms of which differ from the classical one, should be considered in two tricks: as an ordinary depressive disorder and as a psychological state of increased excitability.

Depressive factor is usually expressed in the general mood of a person: he is not able to experience joy, relax, his pessimistic mood prevails. In depression, a person usually wakes up in a bad mood, often in the first half of the day can be noted uncaused tears, hysterics, nervous breakdowns.

But if a person suffering from a classical depression is inert and inactive, possesses a mild facial expression and does not seek communication, then the patient agitated form of depression, on the contrary, is mobile, nervous.

In order to see the clinical picture of the disease more precisely, it is necessary to consider 5 conditional stages through which the patient passes.

Stages of

1. The first stage of agitated depression presents great difficulties in diagnosis. At this stage, the alarm is the prevalent symptom, but the person still retains the ability to reason with reason, so his troubling thoughts do not look delirious. He may be afraid of a common disease, loss of savings. But as the disease progresses, anxiety begins to spread to all areas of life and even to be blurred: for example, it may seem to a person that something terrible will happen to someone close to them soon.
2. In the second stage, external signs of the disease begin to appear, for example, disturbing verbigeration. This term characterizes the speech of a person permanently in a state of anxiety. First, a person does not want to discuss things that go beyond his fears, so any conversation boils down to a problem topic and goes around. Secondly, the very speech of the patient is lexically meager, jammed, he talks in short phrases, constantly repeating the same words.
3. At the third stage there comes a period of motor agitation. The person is active, he is tempted to constantly move, walk, move his hands, change his posture. This is caused by chronic muscle tension due to a constantly activated sympathetic system. When a person wants to move, the body tries to "dump" the pathological tension from the body.
4. In the fourth stage, the most common attempts are suicide. Anxiety grows, together with it muscle tension increases and, accordingly, the desire to move. In this state, a person is able, consciously or not, to inflict physical harm on himself and even kill himself.
5. With unfinished attempts at suicide in the previous stage, a person develops delusions in various forms.

Psychotherapeutic treatment

In the early stages of depression can be cured with the help of psychotherapy sessions. The main task at this stage is to relieve a person of stress, to teach him to cope with stress correctly, to distract him to classes that will cause him positive emotions. Taking into account the fact that old age is the most common factor for the development of the disease, the specialist should help the patient to adapt to life in a new mode.

In order to agitate depression, treatment of which is carried out without antidepressants, has been cured, support of relatives is very important. The atmosphere in the house, involving the patient in solving important problems and tasks - all this allows a person to rehabilitate and get out of the depressed state more quickly.

In this case, doctors do not recommend to protect a person from stress. On the contrary, this approach can exacerbate depression, so it is important to help the patient cope with problems correctly from a psychological point of view.

Medication

Prolonged depression can not be eliminated without the use of antidepressants. This is because the disease is a violation of the balance of neurotransmitters. But with agitated depression it is important to choose drugs with a calming, anti-anxiety effect. Sometimes antidepressants can be supplemented with tranquilizers for good sleep, vegetative stabilizers to eliminate panic attacks.

The patient's treatment plan requires the competence of the doctor, especially if the elderly patient has chronic diseases that limit the list of drugs that he can take. Otherwise cured prolonged depression will cause serious functional disorders in the liver, kidneys, heart.

Prevention

Reactive depression is much easier to prevent than treat. The best defense against this ailment is "psychological immunity". It allows a person to be distracted from problems that can not be solved at the moment, and to solve those tasks that require attention.

But such immunity is developed for years, so the second way to save yourself from the risk of experiencing depression is an active lifestyle after retirement. Communication with family, friends, hobbies, traveling - all this will direct the activity of the nervous system in the right direction.

Knowing what are the age-related mental disorders, the symptoms in women, men, the stage and the way of treatment, cope with the disease and avoid it will be much easier.